Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the main causes of liver disease and transplantation worldwide. Current therapy is expensive, presents additional side effects and viral resistance has been described. Therefore, studies for developing more efficient antivirals against HCV are needed. Compounds isolated from animal venoms have shown antiviral activity against some viruses such as Dengue virus, Yellow fever virus and Measles virus. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the complex crotoxin (CX) and its subunits crotapotin (CP) and phospholipase A2 (PLA2-CB) isolated from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus on HCV life cycle. Huh 7.5 cells were infected with HCVcc JFH-1 strain in the presence or absence of these toxins and virus was titrated by focus formation units assay or by qPCR. Toxins were added to the cells at different time points depending on the stage of virus life cycle to be evaluated. The results showed that treatment with PLA2-CB inhibited HCV entry and replication but no effect on HCV release was observed. CX reduced virus entry and release but not replication. By treating cells with CP, an antiviral effect was observed on HCV release, the only stage inhibited by this compound. Our data demonstrated the multiple antiviral effects of toxins from animal venoms on HCV life cycle.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the leading causes of liver diseases and transplantation worldwide. The current available therapy for HCV infection is based on interferon-α, ribavirin and the new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), such as NS3 protease and NS5B polymerase inhibitors. However, the high costs of drug design, severe side effects and HCV resistance presented by the existing treatments demonstrate the need for developing more efficient anti-HCV agents. This study aimed to evaluate the antiviral effects of sorbifolin (1) and pedalitin (2), two flavonoids from Pterogyne nitens on the HCV replication cycle. These compounds were investigated for their anti-HCV activities using genotype 2a JFH-1 subgenomic replicons and infectious virus systems. Flavonoids 1 and 2 inhibited virus entry up to 45.0% and 78.7% respectively at non-cytotoxic concentrations. The mechanism of the flavonoid 2 block to virus entry was demonstrated to be by both the direct action on virus particles and the interference on the host cells. Alternatively, the flavonoid 1 activity was restricted to its virucidal effect. Additionally, no inhibitory effects on HCV replication and release were observed by treating cells with these flavonoids. These data are the first description of 1 and 2 possessing in vitro anti-HCV activity.

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This study investigated of the potential value of the integration of the coagulation/flocculation, Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOP) (Fenton reagent) and slow sand filtration technologies, with the aim of treating laboratory wastewater. The treatment system was designed in laboratory scale through coagulation/flocculation. It involved the use of Jar Test equipment with a sequence of two rotational phases: fast mixes to 300 rpm for 20 seconds and slow mixes to 30 rpm for 6 minutes and 10 seconds, with the addition of anionic polymer and sedimentation for 60 minutes at ambient temperature. In the treatment via Fenton reagent, two rotational phases were used: rapid mixing at 300 rpm for 20 seconds with the addition of iron (Fe2+) and slow mixing at 30 rpm for 6 minutes and 10 seconds with the addition of hydrogen peroxide, followed by 60 minutes of sedimentation at ambient temperature. A cylindrical tank of polyvinyl chloride, sands and non-woven synthetic fabrics were used in the slow filtration. The filtration rate adopted was 3 m3 m-2 d-1 with a hydraulic retention time of 264 minutes. The best concentrations of chemical reagents used in the treatments were: 0.80 mg L-1 of polymeric anionic, 200.00 mg L-1 of H2O2 and 13.00 mg L-1 of total soluble iron. The integration of the treatment technologies made it possible to achieve a removal rate of 75.27% of COD and 94.12% of  total phenols. Furthermore, the conjugation of the processes allowed the removal of 87.58% of TOC.